the Rice Thresher

Issue date: 1/9/09 Section: Entertainment

Released on Christmas Day, the new movie Marley & Me could not be a better Christmas gift. Presenting an endearing, down-to-earth story filled with adorable Labrador puppies, Marley & Me will leave children and adults alike wishing they had received a puppy under their Christmas trees.

Based on the 2005 nonfiction book Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog, the film follows the lives of real-life columnist John Grogan (Drillbit Taylor's Owen Wilson) and his wife Jenny (The Break-Up's Jennifer Aniston) through their experiences with their dog Marley. Marley & Me tells part of John's life story, including John buying Marley as a puppy, Jenny's miscarriage, job changes and the births of their three children, by paralleling these events with Marley's unruly behavior, such as Marley digesting Jenny's new jewelry or tearing up the house.

Marley's narrative perspective is Marley & Me's most unique aspect, for while John is writing columns about Marley, the film shows the everyday events of John and Jenny's lives as having some relationship to the dog. For example, their children experience grief for the first time when they lose Marley in his old age; likewise, Marley runs out with John when their neighbor is in trouble and is there to comfort Jenny when she miscarries her baby. Perhaps it is because these events are based on Grogan's real life that Marley & Me's simplicity seems believable.

Wilson and Aniston's chemistry lends credibility to their performances as John and Jenny, a normal couple with normal struggles. The actors infuse their characters with qualities for which they are famous: Wilson's sly humor from his other comedy films, such as Wedding Crashers, and Aniston's girl-next-door personality in the television series "Friends."

Along with its entertaining leading actors, Marley & Me contains numerous cute Labradors that are certain to win the audience's adoration. The dogs used in the movie to play Marley's character transition from a month old puppy that awkwardly romps through John and Jenny's house in the beginning of the film to a middle-aged Labrador that tears up every pair of shoes to an elderly dog that creaks with arthritis and has trouble going up the stairs. Each stage of Marley's evolution touches the hearts of animal lovers.

The one bittersweet aspect of Marley & Me is that it is an undeniable tearjerker. Marley's prolonged illness and the family's mourning of Marley's death at the end of the film draw tears and multiple handkerchiefs, as the audience becomes emotionally attached to the mischievous but lovable Marley by the time of the movie's conclusion.

Marley & Me is a winner. It's simple, it's sweet and it has puppies in it. The movie is believable because of its basis in real life, allowing the audience to relate to an individual's relationship with his or her pet. Marley & Me is a delightful, sincere film that artfully combines both the comedy and the drama of real life. Many viewers may find themselves missing their own dogs.

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